End-of-life decisions and palliative care in a children's hospital

Journal of Palliative Medicine
Gim H TanJack Wolfsdorf

Abstract

To investigate clinical and demographic factors affecting the nature of end-of-life decisions and pediatric palliative care. Charts of 236 expired children were retrospectively reviewed for presence of endof- life care (EOLC) discussions and spiritual support, the nature of EOLC decisions, and the degree of opioid analgesics (OA) and sedatives (SDT) administration. Approximately 60% of patients had EOLC discussion, of whom 87.4% obtained an EOLC decision, mostly opting for withholding therapy (68.8%). Presence of EOLC discussion was associated with a longer hospital stay (univariate analyses: odds ratio [OR] = 1.9; p < 0.029), higher number of failed organs (OR = 2.5; p < 0.003), chronic illnesses (OR = 2.4; p < 0.002), spiritual support (OR = 1.8; p < 0.028) and respiratory diseases (OR = 3.1; p < 0.0006). Younger patients and those with higher number of failed organs were more likely to have withdrawal of therapy (OR = 10.9 and 6.0; p < 0.0001 and <0.002, respectively), whereas patients with chronic illness opted for withholding of therapy (OR = 3.1; p < 0.006). Spiritual support was associated with higher use of both OA and SDT (OR = 1.9 and 2.3; p < 0.014 and p < 0.005, respectively). Younger patients received less OA and S...Continue Reading

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Citations

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